Supreme Court nominee praised for efforts to reduce backlog

By ANTHONY CAMPISI

STATE HOUSE BUREAU |

The Record

David F. Bauman was a lawyer in the Marine Corps until he left to join one of New Jersey’s largest law firms, where he counted Whitney Houston among his clients and won a case that expanded free speech in the state.

Then, after 17 years, he became a Superior Court judge in Monmouth County, where he so impressed his supervisor that he won a quick promotion. In a politically charged case there, he ruled against the Christie administration by stopping the state’s seizure of millions of dollars in affordable housing funds as part of its effort to balance a tight budget.

Now Bauman, a 56-year-old Republican who has largely avoided political involvements, is one of Governor Christie’s two most recent choices for the state Supreme Court.

Bauman, whose mother was Japanese, would be the first Asian-American to serve on the state’s highest court. He and fellow nominee Robert M. Hanna, the chairman of the state Board of Public Utilities and a former federal prosecutor under Christie, await scrutiny by the same Democratically controlled Senate that rejected the governor’s last pair of nominees.

Bauman stressed “the respect” courts should show the elected branches of government during the December news conference at which Christie introduced his nominees, appearing to hew to the conservative judicial philosophy favored by the Republican governor.

“I have a profound appreciation of the role the Supreme Court plays in our constitutional system of government and the respect of the courts for the elected executive and legislative branches on matters of policy,” Bauman said, echoing a statement by Hanna at the same event.

He has declined requests for an interview.

Christie, who has repeatedly criticized the court as being too liberal, has made public battles with the justices a hallmark of his term since refusing to renominate Justice John E. Wallace Jr. in 2010, when he was up for tenure review. At the time, Christie said his move was meant to send a message to the remaining justices to take the court in a more conservative direction.

Christie has said he doesn’t know how Bauman or Hanna would rule on important cases that are expected to come before the court in the next several years that could touch on politically contentious issues like affordable housing, environmental regulations and gay marriage.

He said he had never met Bauman before interviewing him over the summer.

A year after Bauman joined the Superior Court, Assignment Judge Lawrence M. Lawson made him a presiding judge in charge of overseeing all of the county’s civil cases.

“He’s very honorable, he is dedicated, diligent and extremely competent,” Lawson said in a recent interview about Bauman’s work on the court. Lawson said Bauman has put in long hours in an attempt to reduce the county’s backlog of cases.

Attorneys who have practiced in his courtroom agreed.

Daryl Zaslow of Edison said Bauman was instrumental in reaching a $1.25 million settlement in a harrowing lawsuit alleging the state hadn’t done enough to prevent the beating death of 5-year-old Kedar Norris. Though the case had dragged on for years, Zaslow said, Bauman persuaded both sides to agree to a settlement last year by getting “you to weigh your interests and make you see the other side’s without sacrificing your values.”

Last year, the Appellate Division criticized Bauman’s handling of a domestic violence case, ruling that he had violated a defendant’s rights by doing his own research on the man’s background.

Though Bauman told the man that it was within his judicial “prerogative” to conduct such an investigation, judges are usually required to consider only evidence that’s been presented to them in court, the appeals court said in its ruling.

Bauman had granted a final restraining order against the man, who is not named in court records, for alleged abuse after finding his explanation for several incidents less credible because of a prior indictment for aggravated assault, according to that ruling.

Bauman spent four years in the Marines, beginning in 1988, and continued as a reservist until 2004. He served as a prosecutor, defense attorney and legal adviser.

After leaving active military service in 1991, he joined Florham Park-based Bressler, Amery & Ross, where he rose to the rank of partner and handled complex civil and criminal cases.

He made headlines representing singer Whitney Houston in a bizarre case against a man who claimed to be Houston’s cousin as part of a scam to steal $100,000 from an elderly physician.

And in 2008, Bauman helped present a case to the state Supreme Court that enhanced New Jersey’s free speech protections. He argued that a Middletown law firm could not be sued for its work on behalf of a client who had been found to have defamed someone in a contentious property dispute.

Bauman and his wife, Red Bank divorce attorney Laura M. D’Orsi, have long been involved in advocating for domestic violence victims. They have two children.

Though Christie presented Bauman and Hanna as compromise candidates meant to end battles with Democrats over the court, it remains unclear whether the Senate will agree. Bauman was appointed to the Superior Court bench by Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat.

Christie’s earlier nominees for the same seats on the seven-member court were rejected in 2012 by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. And for a man who once described his Superior Court confirmation hearing — which lasted about five minutes and where he won unanimous support — as “one of the most daunting experiences I’ve ever had,” the road ahead for Bauman could be rocky.

Members of the Judiciary Committee, which is in charge of vetting nominations, have been meeting with him privately.

While Sen. Kevin O’Toole, R-Cedar Grove, said after they met that Bauman was impressive, most Democrats have been largely silent and have declined to say how they would vote. The Legislative Black Caucus is opposing both appointments, saying they would leave the court without an African-American or Hispanic justice until 2022 — assuming all the justices serve until they reach mandatory retirement age.

Supreme Court nominee praised for efforts to reduce backlog

David F. Bauman was a lawyer in the Marine Corps until he left to join one of New Jersey’s largest law firms, where he counted Whitney Houston among his clients and won a case that expanded free speech in the state.

Then, after 17 years, he became a Superior Court judge in Monmouth County, where he so impressed his supervisor that he won a quick promotion. In a politically charged case there, he ruled against the Christie administration by stopping the state’s seizure of millions of dollars in affordable housing funds as part of its effort to balance a tight budget.

Now Bauman, a 56-year-old Republican who has largely avoided political involvements, is one of Governor Christie’s two most recent choices for the state Supreme Court.

Bauman, whose mother was Japanese, would be the first Asian-American to serve on the state’s highest court. He and fellow nominee Robert M. Hanna, the chairman of the state Board of Public Utilities and a former federal prosecutor under Christie, await scrutiny by the same Democratically controlled Senate that rejected the governor’s last pair of nominees.

Bauman stressed “the respect” courts should show the elected branches of government during the December news conference at which Christie introduced his nominees, appearing to hew to the conservative judicial philosophy favored by the Republican governor.

“I have a profound appreciation of the role the Supreme Court plays in our constitutional system of government and the respect of the courts for the elected executive and legislative branches on matters of policy,” Bauman said, echoing a statement by Hanna at the same event.

He has declined requests for an interview.

Christie, who has repeatedly criticized the court as being too liberal, has made public battles with the justices a hallmark of his term since refusing to renominate Justice John E. Wallace Jr. in 2010, when he was up for tenure review. At the time, Christie said his move was meant to send a message to the remaining justices to take the court in a more conservative direction.

Christie has said he doesn’t know how Bauman or Hanna would rule on important cases that are expected to come before the court in the next several years that could touch on politically contentious issues like affordable housing, environmental regulations and gay marriage.

He said he had never met Bauman before interviewing him over the summer.

A year after Bauman joined the Superior Court, Assignment Judge Lawrence M. Lawson made him a presiding judge in charge of overseeing all of the county’s civil cases.

“He’s very honorable, he is dedicated, diligent and extremely competent,” Lawson said in a recent interview about Bauman’s work on the court. Lawson said Bauman has put in long hours in an attempt to reduce the county’s backlog of cases.

Attorneys who have practiced in his courtroom agreed.

Daryl Zaslow of Edison said Bauman was instrumental in reaching a $1.25 million settlement in a harrowing lawsuit alleging the state hadn’t done enough to prevent the beating death of 5-year-old Kedar Norris. Though the case had dragged on for years, Zaslow said, Bauman persuaded both sides to agree to a settlement last year by getting “you to weigh your interests and make you see the other side’s without sacrificing your values.”

Last year, the Appellate Division criticized Bauman’s handling of a domestic violence case, ruling that he had violated a defendant’s rights by doing his own research on the man’s background.

Though Bauman told the man that it was within his judicial “prerogative” to conduct such an investigation, judges are usually required to consider only evidence that’s been presented to them in court, the appeals court said in its ruling.

Bauman had granted a final restraining order against the man, who is not named in court records, for alleged abuse after finding his explanation for several incidents less credible because of a prior indictment for aggravated assault, according to that ruling.

Bauman spent four years in the Marines, beginning in 1988, and continued as a reservist until 2004. He served as a prosecutor, defense attorney and legal adviser.

After leaving active military service in 1991, he joined Florham Park-based Bressler, Amery & Ross, where he rose to the rank of partner and handled complex civil and criminal cases.

He made headlines representing singer Whitney Houston in a bizarre case against a man who claimed to be Houston’s cousin as part of a scam to steal $100,000 from an elderly physician.

And in 2008, Bauman helped present a case to the state Supreme Court that enhanced New Jersey’s free speech protections. He argued that a Middletown law firm could not be sued for its work on behalf of a client who had been found to have defamed someone in a contentious property dispute.

Bauman and his wife, Red Bank divorce attorney Laura M. D’Orsi, have long been involved in advocating for domestic violence victims. They have two children.

Though Christie presented Bauman and Hanna as compromise candidates meant to end battles with Democrats over the court, it remains unclear whether the Senate will agree. Bauman was appointed to the Superior Court bench by Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat.

Christie’s earlier nominees for the same seats on the seven-member court were rejected in 2012 by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee. And for a man who once described his Superior Court confirmation hearing — which lasted about five minutes and where he won unanimous support — as “one of the most daunting experiences I’ve ever had,” the road ahead for Bauman could be rocky.

Members of the Judiciary Committee, which is in charge of vetting nominations, have been meeting with him privately.

While Sen. Kevin O’Toole, R-Cedar Grove, said after they met that Bauman was impressive, most Democrats have been largely silent and have declined to say how they would vote. The Legislative Black Caucus is opposing both appointments, saying they would leave the court without an African-American or Hispanic justice until 2022 — assuming all the justices serve until they reach mandatory retirement age.